See how the pottery goes and see if you can just get in a conversation or two and maybe find people to have coffee with before/afterwards, that sort of thing? Just "practicing" is good. I use sales clerks to practice on, ask them when they get off work, simple things like that just to get in the habit of conversing with others.

I would maybe sit in the pottery class away from some of the materials I need so I'd have to walk over/by several people to get to the slip or a tool or rack/shelf/oven or something and stop and watch them and comment (favorably :-) on what they're making, etc.